While exercising today I was listening to Christmas music played on the harp. Strange music to exercise to but I get tired of listening to the lady on my exercise cd so I turn her down and play my own music. But listening to the harp cd made me think of my favorite Christmas music, and while I like all the standards, you know "Oh Little Town of Bethleham", "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear", "Away in a Manger", "I'm Dreaming of a While Christmas", my absolute favorite Christmas Carol is " O Holy Night" a French carol written in 1865 by Adolph Adam, and my favorite version is sung by Bing Crosby, an oldie but a goodie. I also like his version of the Little Drummer Boy done with David Bowie and his version of "Do You Hear What I Hear".
Another favorite is "What Child is This?" done to the tune of Greensleeves with the words being written by William Chatteron Dix in 1865,
But for a really modern version of a carol I LOVE "The Carol of the Bells" by the Trans Siberian Orchestra is fantastic. I looked for a You Tube version to put on here but they're all bootlegs with poor sound and picture quality, so I'll just put the album on here, think I'll be exercising to it tomorrow.
What are your favorites?
I love Celtic music and two of my favourite Christmas CDs are And Winter Came by Enya and An Irish Christmas by her sister Moya Brennan.
ReplyDeleteI also like Celtic Christmas music as well as the "Winter Solstice" series of seasonal music put out by Windham Hill.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite pieces is Jesu Bambino--not often heard.
I've fallen in love with classic English carols as recorded by the King's College Choir, and also the Cambridge Singers under the direction of John Rutter. Most of them are not widely known but they're very very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI admire you for exercising! Something I seem to have given up. I like so much music that it is difficult to single anything out but I always associate Christmas with Bach's famous Cantata 'Wachet Auf' (despite the fact that it was written for performance in the summer) but J and I played it on our first Christmas together and it has stuck with me since.
ReplyDeleteI love the Celtic Christmas music too and own most of the Windham Hill Collection.
ReplyDeleteI love your choice of music and may I add Luciano Pavarotti "O Holy Night"
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas